Italy Day 2

Journal - Day 2, 9/3/12

Today was our first official day of the tour and it was jam packed. We got up and had breakfast. It was was buffet and it was jammed with people. I wasn't very impressed with it. WE then loaded on the bus and were on our way to The Vatican Museum which is breath taking. Tapestry with gold weaved in, amazing paintings and architecture. Ceiling paintings that looked like sculpture. We then went into the Sistine Chapel which was so amazing. The room was smaller than I thought it would be, but the detail was exquisite. Peoples voices would raise as they spoke and then the guard would shout and all would quite down be quite again, then the cycle would repeat. It was rather humorous. I did fairly well today, only a couple of small moments of unease due to the crowds. After the chapel we left and went to St. Peters Cathedral. Again the architecture was amazing, the cross of Christ was there, but behind statues where you couldn't see it. To protect it I'm sure. It was amazing, the colors, the statues, the history. you could spend a month and not see it all.

We then left and headed to the Colosseum. I felt a little rushed, but it was still astounding to see. To think of men dying on the stones while others cheered, barbaric, and the fact they built it so long ago.

We also walked up, and saw the remains of the forum where the Ancient Greeks ruled from. The columns and relics still standing as a marker of history. We then came back, grabbed some pizza and Ice cream and took it back to the room, where we took a much needed nap as we did walk for 4 hours this AM.

Then we left the hotel again for the afternoon excursion. We went to the top of the Spanish Steps & walked down like all of the models do. The street is famous for shopping (Gucchi, Prada, etc...) We sat on the steps for a while & watched the people.

We then walked onto the Pantheon. It was also amazing to see the ancient structure in the heart of town. It also had amazing architecture and art work. Through the walk we saw various obelisk and monuments. WE also sat outside the Pantheon for a bit and relaxed. Once we did that we went to our last stop of the day - Novana Plaza. Tons of art work for sale, great buildings and generally fun.

We left there, came back to the hotel an grabbed some dinner. It was a great day. My feet hurt, but it was awesome.

*Journal After Thoughts

- Breakfast in Itally proved to be lacking. They don't generally eat it and it was absolutely horrible. But they make up for it with dinner.

- Sorry for all of the "amazings" I was tired and other words would not come.

- Pictures didn't turn out that great - too rushed and many places didn't allow the flash.